Till death do us part
by vivianmagic
Summary: Inspired by Ch.105 and most importantly, all the other productive members of the reaper fandom who made me feel left out by not writing. xD


Uniqueness was not something William T. Spears associated himself with.

He went about doing his mediocre job, living his mediocre life, and feeling like a mediocre human being. It wasn't that he didn't like his life, he just didn't find it very inspiring. His inability to be surprised by anything has put him in the corner for the socially awkward where while he is never happy, he wasn't particularly sad, either. Every time there is a rare little peak on the graph that was his emotion, it would quickly drop back into a flat line.

He sometimes wished his heartbeat had been a flat line, too.

* * *

"You are so focused." was the first pick-up line he received.

William turned his face to the young man next to him, to that alarming shade of red that was his being.

"I wonder what can move your eyes away from..." he waved his fingers in the air, "whatever you are looking at now."

"I have the same question." William replied dryly, yet unable to redirect his eyes away from that almost gaudy aristocratic attire.

"Are you not interested in an answer?" asked the young man as he sipped from a glass of champagne.

William blinked, "I'm not usually interested in anything." but he found his tone to be unusually compromising, as if he was trying to convince otherwise.

The young man frowned, that sly grin still on his face.

William would have never guessed that this garish creature, who he later came to know as Grell Sutcliff, was actually secretly offended by his lack of interest. But he should have known, for Grell was not someone you could easily overlook or forget. Naturally you'd get used to having all the attention, and that one person who didn't give a damn would become an irritating eyesore. At least that was the reason William came up with on why Grell would even talk to him in the first place. But the redhead was overthinking it, for one single encounter was enough to engrave his, or as William later found out, _her_ entire existence at the depth of your brain and every attempt to wipe that memory away would be in vain. William knew that because he tried, and he failed.

Maybe he was interested in _some_ things after all.

* * *

"You are so purposefully average. It's annoying."

"Why?" William asked as he curled his fingers around Grell's silky hair, their bodies entwined under a thin bedsheet.

"Because you are not, you just present yourself that way." Grell took William's hand in hers, "You should let people know how unique you are."

"But I'm not unique."

"You _are_ to me."

And then William fell madly in love, his once colorless days now painted with wild streaks of crimson. Never in his life had he felt the need to walk out of the background, but Grell, curious and passionate Grell, made him realize that maybe he belonged to a better place after all. And once he found that place, he didn't want to be anywhere else ever again.

* * *

Their love for uniqueness, however, was not shared by others, and parting soon became inevitable.

"I don't like what life has planned for me, Will." she muttered under his touch, "Why can't we just disappear and stay together forever?"

He could only hold her, his fingers again entwined in that red mess of hair she angrily cut short in an earlier tantrum, and wish time would pause at that very instance.

"We made a promise, Will…" she buried her face in his chest as the first drop of tear fell from her eyes, " _Till death do us part._ Why is it happening while we're still alive?"

He didn't have an answer, but the thought of going back to his plain, monochrome days frightened him. No one else would find him unique, and he would never get to feel unique again. He dreaded that idea.

In fact, he was scared.

"William…" he should have foreseen that something was wrong when she freed herself from his embrace with a look of relief on her face, "I know what to do so we don't have to break our promise."

He really should have known. She was always the bold one, too impatient for explanations and too impulsive for second thoughts.

Till death would they part, and if parting arrived too soon, they'd fulfill their promise by seeking death.

As the knife fell and her arteries ran dry, William looked up at the night sky with her lifeless body in his arms. The world is so big yet it felt as if they never belonged here, or anywhere else to be honest. He wondered where she'd be now that she has rid herself of all the worldly burdens, and if they'd ever see each other again. Probably not, for they did promise to part after death. Whatever happens beyond that should not be his concern. Frankly speaking, he wasn't particularly interested in afterlife, either.

With a kiss on her cooling lips, William made his decision.

* * *

"William T. Spears, practical skills, written test and ethics are all B. Average score is B."

Yes, of course. What was the point of going beyond that if B was all you needed? For William, that was good enough, but his soon-to-be partner obviously disagreed.

He knew Grell Sutcliff, not personally, but a character like this was destined to be a regular in public discussion. William knew all the things other reaper trainees were willing to do to avoid being in the same room with the redhead, but he didn't care. On the contrary, he found Grell's confrontational personality strangely comforting. Maybe he saw something that was not found in himself, maybe there was another reason, but when faced with the despising look on Grell's face, he couldn't help but feel slightly amused.

* * *

The first night didn't go well, however, and for years William could vividly recall that throbbing pain in his back as he was thrown against a stone chimney. He partially expected Grell to get physical, but he was glad his partner compromised eventually. He didn't know if he could beat someone with triple As in practical skills, but he didn't want to test that idea, either.

Three days into their final exam, William found himself working alone most of the time, keeping a journal Grell refused to read because nothing would change his mind. It didn't feel like a very sustainable partnership, and William felt like both of them, sooner or later, would be seeking alternatives. Grell would probably make the first move. He was the bold one after all-

"Hey."

William's thoughts were interrupted by Grell's call, so he turned around to-

 _That almost gaudy aristocratic attire._

He snapped back after a second, not knowing what just surfaced in his mind...this uncannily familiar feeling.

" _Have I ever seen you dressed like this before?"_ was a question he never asked. Of course he hadn't, he only met Grell three days ago. The mere suggestion of that possibility was laughable.

And with a well-intended misunderstanding and a few compliments, Grell changed his mind on that poor boy Thomas. At first, William was skeptical of Grell's shift in opinion, but the redhead's opposition appeared to grow firmer by day. And while William had almost unconditional trust in him (which he couldn't quite explain why at the time), he had this eerie feeling that a fight was about to erupt.

Which explained why the result of the fight - although he never wanted to admit it - surprised him.

He turned away as Grell fell to his knees on that chilly rooftop, completely beaten by William's unexpected display of strength. His cries of arousal of course irked William a great deal, but he got used to it surprisingly quickly, and God _O God_ it felt nice when he called him "Will".

* * *

They passed the exam and moved on to the next level, but remained close, partly because the dispatch was not ready to take away that one reaper who could finally keep the red grenade in check. But William didn't mind a bit. Of course Grell was more annoying than not on most days, but keeping her in his sight gave him a sense of reassurance, a sense of relief, just knowing that she's there, and not somewhere else.

Which was why when she _did_ run off to mingle with humans and later, a demon, he decided to answer her betrayal with cold violence and an unforgiving voice.

He couldn't understand it: she could have died, and he could have lost her-

 _Again._

His pen slipped as he was signing his name at the end of the incident report. He put the pen down and sighed. He hated when he didn't have answers, and he hated more when he didn't even know where to look for them.

* * *

Every day for them was like every other day. The perfect rhythm interrupted only when Grell messed things up and William had to run to the rescue. The circus was dreadful, the sinking ship wasn't any better, and it just couldn't get any worse when Eric and Alan deserted their posts and wound up dying, _again_.

The bad days made him wonder how long he had to remain in this seeming eternity. From time to time there are reapers who find their jobs unbearable enough to abandon their identity, and of course there are also people like Eric and Alan…

He should probably stop thinking about Eric and Alan.

But there he was, trapped between lingering snippets of his past life and the endless, repetitive days as the messenger of death. Just like everyone else, William knew the exact event that took him there, but he couldn't figure out why. What could have possibly happened? He guessed if you got bad days even as a semi-god, sure you would have worse days as a mortal. William wasn't even sure if he wanted to know why, but every time Grell brought that itching feeling of familiarity back to him, he wanted to give up everything just for a sense of closure. Why was he there? Why was Grell there? Why did Grell make him want to know why he was there?

"Why do you think they let us keep the ability to feel and love?" she asked him one day, obviously trying to flirt rather than starting a philosophical conversation, "Isn't it a waste of their good intentions if you don't let your feelings show?"

"We're able to feel so we could understand the impact of death, and the weight of life. This is the entire purpose of our redemption."

Grell rolled her eyes, "Goodness, I wasn't asking for a lecture, Will."

"And I didn't ask for this conversation." he adjusted his glasses, "Honestly."

"You are so purposefully indifferent. It's annoying."

"I wasn't-" he suddenly paused, and failed to utter a sound.

The silence made Grell uneasy, "What is wrong, Will?"

He blinked, "No, nothing… I, um, you should probably get back to work. I need all your paperwork before I leave for Germany."

She smiled, "You mean before _we_ leave for Germany."

"I honestly have no idea why you are coming with me, and I don't want to think about it now. _Go._ " he hurried her out of his office, fearing that a second more with her in the room would lead to him saying things he never meant to say.

Exactly what he was thinking about saying? He had no idea.

* * *

"Hey, why don't we stop by Baden-Baden?"

William hoped they had walked far away enough from Sascha and Rudgar for them to eavesdrop.

 _Honestly, Sascha is_ still _waving._

"How come you never brought it up?" he asked when they could no longer see their German counterparts, "You can't change our itinerary like that."

"I'm not changing anything, the place lies on our way back!" after a few seconds of William's icy stares, Grell started pouting, "C'mon, Will, we got the work done. There's no harm spending a day or two at a spa resort. You need a break anyway."

He smacked her again with his scythe and walked on, not objecting to her suggestion, as usual.

"Isn't it great that we get to make up for our honeymoon trip since our wedding night almost a century ago?"

"I honestly have no idea what you are talking about."

"Of course you do! Twas the night we exchanged vows and promised 'till death do us part'. I can't believe you had no recollection." Grell chuckled as she took his arm.

 _ **Till death do us part.**_

The sudden revelation resulted in nothing but a silent gasp from William, and went completely unnoticed by his companion as they continued on their journey.

 _What a silly promise._ William thought to himself. _We still broke it, just not by parting before death, but by sticking together after_ becoming _Death._

Yet he wasn't complaining, so he relaxed himself and intertwined Grell's fingers with his. The question now would be… _Does she know too?_


End file.
